Five Psychological Theories Every Leader Should Know

Jacob Shriar of OfficeVice.com reports on a handful of insights from psychology that every business leader — from CEO to Project Manager — should know:

The Hawthorne Effect

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

The theory of “Authentic Self-Expression”

Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory

Groupthink

Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory is pretty interesting and edifying. It includes the idea that “job satisfaction and dissatisfaction are actually measured in different ways, and are not two opposite ends of the scale.”

The theory is, that “motivation” factors, like recognition, growth, autonomy, and enjoying the work itself are what really lead to job satisfaction. On the other hand, job dissatisfaction comes from “hygiene” factors, like the physical work environment, salary, and job security.

The reason this theory is so interesting, is that fixing the issues that lead to job dissatisfaction (like paying someone a higher salary) won’t necessarily lead to job satisfaction. All those fancy perks and bonuses don’t mean anything if we have no autonomy, recognition, or growth at work.